Top 15 Worst Wrestlers of the ’80s

Most pure wrestling fans will never forget the 80s, you either witnessed it as it happened, or you have spent countless hours watching footage and reading about it, like me. It was a very interesting time in wrestling, WWE became huge across America thanks in large part to Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior.

While Hogan and Warrior were selling out arenas, there were certain characters that came about that made many scratch their heads. Some were just executed wrong, some were bad, some were just plain awful and would not have worked even if they kept trying, from a giant Chicken, to a Voodoo Shaman, this list entails some of the worst gimmicks that ever came out of a very large period in wrestling history. WWE has since been able to look back on some of these and make jokes, but at the time they were established, they were taken seriously, but the fans were laughing from the start.

Wrestling fans have grown since the 80’s and now expect more real and down to earth characters. This list involves some outlandish and hard to believe gimmicks that existed in wrestling for a period of time.

15. Koko B Ware

via wwe.com

Many regard Koko B. Ware as the worst non-celebrity Hall of Fame inductee. There was never anything special about his ring work. The only thing that stood out about him were his bright colors and his macaw, named Frankie. Ware stuck around mostly in the midcard, never winning a title and never being relevant in any major storylines. It’s remarkable how the WWE thought that amounted to Hall of Fame credentials.

14. Big John Studd

via wwfchamps.com

This one was one that I didnt understand, and I still have no idea what his character was exactly. Either way his biggest moment was eliminating Andre from a battle royal. The name seems odd to me, and slightly confusing. Studd competed in the first WrestleMania against Andre the Giant, where he and Andre competed in a $15,000 Bodyslam Challenge, in which the winner would receive the money. Studd would retire in 1986, but returned in ’88 to feud with the Heenan Family as a face.

13. The Barbarian

via ringthedamnbell.wordpress.com

This one was just a complete joke. He dressed like a barbarian, and acted like one. Once again, in the world of wrestling, it is hard for that to work. If there was more to the character, and some in ring ability, it could have been a decent mid-card performer, but it ended up being just another character that was hard to watch. The Barbarian would eventually team up with our next entrant on this list.